By Nava Atlas | On May 22, 2019 | Updated November 16, 2024 | Comments (0)
Emma Lazarus (July 22, 1849 – November 17, 1887), American poet, translator, and immigrant advocate. She’s best known for the poem “The New Colossus” (1883), whose lines beginning with “Give me your tired, your poor …” are inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty.
As touching and world-famous as this poem has remained, it’s but a tiny portion of her body of work. The life of Emma Lazarus, brief as it would be, was filled with accomplishment, not only as a writer, but as an advocate for immigrants (especially Jewish immigrants) and refugees.
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By Skyler Gomez | On May 3, 2019 | Updated March 25, 2024 | Comments (0)
Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa (September 26, 1942 – May 15, 2004) was a queer Chicana poet, feminist theorist, and writer. Going by the name Gloria E. Anzaldúa as an author, her writing and poetry discuss the anger that stems from social and cultural marginalization.
She herself experienced this kind of marginalization growing up in the Mexican-Texas border as the daughter of a Spanish American and Native American. (Photo above right courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)
Anzaldúa was born in Jesús María Ranch in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas as the oldest of four siblings. Throughout her childhood, her parents, Urbano Anzaldúa and Amalia Anzaldúa García, moved their family to various ranches working as migrant farmers.
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By Nava Atlas | On April 24, 2019 | Updated March 29, 2026 | Comments (0)
Ursula K. Le Guin (October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018), born Ursula Krober, was known primarily as a masterful writer of science fiction and fantasy, though she wrote across many genres.
The imaginary worlds she created were commentaries on our real world, with all the complexities of human nature. She also produced children’s books, short stories, essays, and poetry. (photo at right courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)
Ursula K. Le Guin’s lifelong interest in mythology influenced her mastery of the fantastic in her writings. With an immensely prolific and respected career to her credit, she is perhaps best remembered for The Left Hand of Darkness and the Earthsea series. Lavinia (2008) also made quite a splash. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On April 22, 2019 | Updated August 21, 2022 | Comments (1)
Mary Norton (December 10, 1903 – August 29, 1992) was a British children’s book author best known for The Borrowers series.
Born Kathleen Mary Pearson in London, she grew up in a manor house in the town of Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England, and attended a convent school.
In 1925, in her early twenties, Mary became an actress with the Old Vic theatre company. In 1926, she married Robert Norton. She and her husband moved to Portugal, close to his relatives, and lived there from 1927 until the outbreak of World War II twelve years later. The couple had four children — two sons and two daughters. Read More→
By Larrisa Pope | On March 30, 2019 | Updated September 8, 2022 | Comments (0)
Angela Carter (May 7, 1940– February 16, 1992), born Angela Olive Stalker, was an English novelist, short story writer, and journalist. Born in Eastbourne, England, she is considered one of Britain’s most original writers for her eclectic range of themes and genres.
Her varied influences included fairy tales, gothic fantasy, Shakespeare, Surrealism, and the cinema of Godard and Fellini. Her work breaks taboo, often being labeled provocative. She was also a strong believer in women having control over their own narrative.
Carter is perhaps best known for The Bloody Chamber (1979), a sort of re-envisioned imagining of the classic European fairy tales.
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